Street sweeping machine



May 2, 1933. c. H. RAY 1,906,766

STREET SWEEPING MACHINE Filed Nov. 12, 1928 Patented May 2, 1933 t CHARLES 335g, onm'rrnn norm, nxhnsese a v a STREET swnnrrneenaonrnn i Application and nevmber 12, 1925; Serial new; 7

ing the surface tobe cleaned, collects or ac-, cumulates for transportation by the machine tradeas pick-up'sweepers. a a

My inventionconsists in whatever is described by oris included withinthe terms or scope of the appended claims. i

'Inthe drawing: p Fig. 1 is a side elevationshofwing an embodiment of my invention in a street sweeper of the pick-up type, thatjembodiment being thelitter or sp0i1s,these being known in the what I now=regard as a most satisfactory construction and which will-utilize or secure-th (advantages hereinafter mentioned;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view somewhat die-- grammatic of the brush of: such machine; 3 Fig.3 is a detail iew inperspective of a portion of the brush one larger scale;"

1 Fig. 4 is a similar "View to:show a different manner of attaching the fiat-,sidedbristlesto the brush back, Y

' In the embodiment my inventionxillustratedinthe drawing, is employed what is j substantially amotortruck, in that ithasithc general characteristics of such a truck, name- '3 12, and transporting wheels 13,7upon which are mounted the various members of astreet I sweeper of the pick-up type organization and thus the machine is transported-and power is, Supplied: for revolution of the .rear' brush or broom 14,' and formovemen't of those members of the organization which, in thesweepingoperation, require to be in motion for performing their respective functions. Since my: invention whichforms the subject of the claims is concerned with the rearbrush, is needless todescribe in detail any'parts of the machine than that subject-matter. i

, The pick-up broom. or brush 14, isof cylin a drica'l form and is mounted on a'central shaft brush revolves forward in its lower ;part,

1y, 'a power plant 10, .drivers seat 11,- chassis l5,"which extends [crosswise of' the machine and :WhlQ at opposite ends is supported by means'not necessary tobe described, by which the brush bodily may be raised and lowered with referencetothe pavement surface to be swept and which byfmeans not'necessary to be described, may be revolved by power taken from the truck motor as the machine moves over the surface tobe sweptr The brush comprises acircular series of radial or' substantially radial bristles ,which i at:their inner-ends are suitably secured to a holder or back, concentric with the shaft 15,, and from whichthey extend to their outer free sweeping or brushing ends. The ra dially extending portions of the bristlesare straight but they are flexible and elastic so that by contact with the street surface as the they will flex or bend backward and then 0 -passing out-'ofcontact'with s'uch surface will automatically spring forward by a flipping action so that they will flip or project forward with considerable force the dirt or litter. with which they; have contact,

The brush bristles areflat with their flatwise portions perpendicular to the direction in which, they move in their flipping action I and in the caseshown 1n the drawing thosetutor towards each end of the brush, have their flat-wise surfaces set obliquely or at such an" angle that the effect of their move- .ment in contact with the dirt which they encounter 011 the pavementsurface is to;directthe dirt inward from eachend 'of'the jbrushtowards the central portionthereof. ,Those bristles at the central portion of the "brushcrosswise of the machine, are preferably set sothatt'hey throw the material they engage directly forward in the direction of travel; of the-inachine. The described iar-Q rangem'ent of the bristles so that those portions at-the'ends of the brush have'th'eir'flat dirt-engaging sides oblique and at converging'angles which direct the dirt towards the centr al part of the. brush,' is of especial utila ity and: advantagewith the pick-uptypepf sweeper shown in the drawing, j which includes an elevator '16, situated forward of and close to the brushfat .itslower end so that the sweepings are thrown by the brush to such elevator, thence to be transported in the machine for final delivery to a sweepings receptacle or container 17, not requiring to be described. Such an elevator which is of conventional construction including an end less apron and flights, extends crosswise of the machine and from a point close to the pavement surface upward and forward and since the sweepings are delivered thereto only from the central portion of thebrush, it may be considerably narrower than the length of the brush. The important and practical advantage of this fact will at once be appreciated when it is pointed out that it means saving in cost of construction since instead ofelevating mechanism of a width of from siX to seven feet which is a common width, the elevating mechanism in a machine embodying my invention having a pick-up brush about sixty inches long may be as narrow as twenty-eight inches. Besides difference in first cost of elevator construction, there is a great saving in weight, not only on account of the diminished weight of the elevator mechanism itself, but on account of the supporting structure of the machine which must have a size and weight suitable to the weight of the machine elements to be carried thereby; and, of course, the lightening of the weight of the entire structure is important because it obviates the danger of damage to gutters and curbs and other objects when the machine is heavy and unwieldy. Again, excessive width of the machine is objectionable because of traffic considerations, for an abnormally wide structure will bottle-neck streets and increase the hazards of traffic.

Again, with the conventional or known construction of pick-up street sweepers, there is a tendency to leave on the street surface streaks or lines of unsightly litter in executing a turning movement as when passing a vehicle parked at the curb and in making hairpin turnings. With a brush having my arrangement of fiat-wise resilient or elastic strips, the litter is directed into and kept in the pick-up path.

In street sweeping machines which do not pick up the litter, it is the practice to place the cylindrical brush obliquely to the line of travel for the purpose of giving the sweepings a forward and lateral movement.

An obliquely placed brush obviously requires a greater length of brush than is the case when as with my invention, the brush axis is at right angles to the direction of travel of the machine, and such greater length means great weight and great manufacturing cost. Again, an obliquely arranged brush requires a longer and more cumbersome chassis than-one that is at right angles or substantially at right angles to the line of travel of the machine, and it complicates the transmission of power to the brush to revolve it.

For use with sweeping machines which do not pick up the litter but direct the sweepings to the gutter or side of the street, all of the bristles from one end of the brush to the other may be placed with the flat sides .bar 18, a plurality of such bars being supported ina way, not necessary to be shown in detail, concentric with the brush shaft. Or the arrangement shown in Fig. i, may be employed where the back is made up of bars in the form of cylindrical segments 20 i that are provided with holes arranged in pairs through which the bristles 21 are threaded in hairpin form.

*hat 'I claim is:

1. A brush mounted for rotation on a horizontal axis having bristles extending radially outward, said bristles having flattened outer portions whose extremities contact with the surface to be brushed, said bristles being flexible to spring in directions crosswise of the brush axis, the flattened surfaces of the bristles at the central portion of said brush, being substantially parallel with the brush axis, and those at the ends of said brush being oblique to the brush axis.

2. As a means for displacement of dirt from a street surface to be cleaned, the com bination of a traveling brush support, a brush comprising bristles and bristle holder to which the bristles are attached so as to projecttowards the surface to be cleaned to contact therewith at their outer ends, the bristles being resiliently flexible enough to bend backward when in contact with such surface, and then flip forward thereover to exert a propelling force on loose dirt on such surface, the bristles having flat forward dirt-engaging sides, such fiat sides being oblique to the direction of travel of the brush support over the street surface and the forward flipping movement of the bristles being perpendicular. to such flat sides whereby the dirt engaged and propelled is .moved crosswise of the direction of travel of the brush as a whole.

3. A brush comprising bristles and bristle holder to which the bristles are attached and from which they project for contact of their free ends with a surface to be brushed, the

bristles being resiliently flexible enough to bend backward when in, contact .with the surface to be brushed, and then flip forward 1 v thereover, the bristles beingv flattened with 5 the plane-of the flat surfaces perpendicular to the direction of bending "movement of the bristles, and means for supporting the brush for movement over the surface to be brushed, the flat surfaces of the bristles be- 1 ing oblique to the'direction of travel offsaid supporting means and the axis of the brush I being perpendicular to said direction of travel. A

4. In a street sweepingmachine of the pick-up type, the combination of a traveling brush support, a cylindrical brush'mounted for rotation on a horizontal axis on said support and a dirt-receiving apron .having'a movement in the direction of travel of said support and having a width in the direction of the length of the brush substantially less than the length of the brush and situ ated substantially at the longitudinal center of the brush, said brush having bristles extending radially outward, said bristles hav ing flattened outer portions whose extremities contact with the surface to be brushed, said bristles being fiexibleto spring in directions crosswise of the brush axis, the flattened surfaces of :the bristles at-the central portion of said brush being substantial- 1y parallel with the brush axis, and those at the ends of said brush being oblique to the brush axis. In testimony whereof I l hereunto afiix' my signature. I s

CHARLES RAY., 

